Face Down

Disclaimer: If I owned Pride and Prejudice, it would NOT have taken Elizabeth 300 pages to realize she loved Darcy.

Chapter Twenty—Never Say "I Told You So"

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I lose my sense of wrong and right; I cry, I cry
It's shaking from the pain that's in my head
I just wanna crawl into my bed
And throw away the life I led
But I won't let it die, but I won't let it die
-It's Not Over--Secondhand Serenade
--

She saw Charlie standing by his locker, talking to a few of his football buddies who were all wearing their blue Class of 2008 T-shirts.

Janie bristled as she saw her boyfriend laugh at a joke Chris Armstrong said. Didn't Charlie know that he had caused her sister grief? Didn't he even care that the girl he had placed a bet on is the sister of his girlfriend? She had always thought that Charlie had brains but this proved that he did not.

Mustering up all her courage Janie walked towards Charlie and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Jay-nee!" Yelled the exuberant voice of Joel Simmons flashing the eldest Bennet a wide smile. "Ya ready to graduate in two weeks?"

"Yup," Janie said crisply, not really paying attention. She turned towards her boyfriend. "Charlie, can I talk to you?"

"Sure Jay," Charlie smiled at her. "Spill."

"No," Her foot started tapping. "In private."

"Oooh!" Heckled Chris, Joel, and Zach Anthony as they watched Charlie's face turn to one of confusion. "She's going to put you in your place Charlie!"

"Shut up," Charlie muttered as he shut his locker. "I'll catch up with you guys la—Janie! Wait!"

Janie had set off at a fast walk, leaving Charlie in the dust.

"Jay!" Charlie yelled, shoving through a group of chattering freshmen. "Slow down!"

But Janie didn't slow down. Not until she reached the gathering area near the Front Office where most students during passing time talk to their friends.

"Janie!" Charlie yelled again finally catching up to Janie and closing a hand on her shoulder. "Where's the fire Jay—" But he stopped talking when Janie twisted her body away from his hand. "What's that all about?"

"I have one question for you. And I want you to answer it honestly." Janie said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Please."

"Yeah, of course." Charlie said glancing at the clock to see how much time they had before they had to get to class.

"What possibly made you think that it was okay for you to make a bet on my sister's feelings?"

Charlie was brought back down to earth with a crash and he glanced wildly at Janie who only gave him a cool look. His mouth was bone dry, his heart pumping and his hands were staring to sweat. He couldn't believe that Janie had found out about the bet. How had she found out?

Janie cocked her head to the side and waited for her boyfriend to answer. "Well? I'm waiting."

"How did you find out?" Charlie choked out, not daring to believe it. This was just a dream. A horrible dream.

"Don't be worrying how I found out." Janie said coolly. "What you need to do is give me one good reason why I shouldn't hit you across your face right now."

Charlie honestly could not think of a single thing. Everything that he wanted to say he didn't because he knew he would get slapped for it.

"Actually you know what? Forget what I last said—I would slap you across your face right now only I don't want to get suspended so close to the end of the year." Janie took a step closer towards Charlie and he felt his intestines start to twist when he saw how sad Janie's eyes looked. "I honestly cannot believe you did this to Lizzy. Do you understand that she spent the better part of the night crying? She's not even at school today because by the time she fell asleep it was four thirty a.m. and my mom didn't want her to go in. Do you know that Lizzy never misses school? She even comes to school when she's sick and the one time that she has to skip it's because of your and Will's foolishness." Janie shook her head, biting her lip to keep the nastier words at bay. She was here to tell Charlie what was what, not to swear him out.

"Janie—"

"Can you please tell me," Janie said, rudely cutting Charlie off. "What made you think that betting on my sister's feelings was a good thing? Please tell me this. Do you not like Lizzy or something?"

"No!" Charlie nearly shouted. "No! Lizzy is amazing—"

"If she's so amazing then why did you do this?" Janie asked fighting to keep her voice level.

"It was a dare Janie! When I created it I didn't know that Lizzy would ever say yes to Will! He's not her type!"

"That's where you went wrong." Janie said coldly. "She did say yes. What happened then Charlie? When you saw that they were together didn't you even think that Lizzy may have developed feelings for Will and that when it was time to split them apart Lizzy would be in shambles?"

"No I didn't because I thought that Will had told Lizzy all about the dare and she agreed to it."

"There was nothing fake about Lizzy's affections for Will!" Janie hissed feeling angrier than she did when she first saw Charlie. "I'm her sister; I know her and she loved Will with all her heart."

"Janie—"

"No Charlie. I can't be with you if you think that playing with my sister's emotions is a game." Janie felt tears start to form in her eyes as she realized that she and Charlie were officially over. "I'm done."

Charlie choked on his own saliva and felt as if all the air in his lungs was being punched out. "Janie, think of what you're saying—"

"I've thought about this." Janie's eyes shone with unshed tears. "I spent most of the night making lists and pondering and I can tell you right now—I could have made an infinite amount of lists and I still would break up with you. This was the icing on the cake Charlie and I can't believe you stooped so low." Janie stopped there, turned to the side and wiped away a tear that escaped from the pool behind her eyes.

"Janie—" Charlie croaked not daring to believe his own ears. His Janie—the girl who he had been faithfully dating for over two and a half years—was breaking up with him. "Janie, I never meant it!"

"You should have thought about that before you played that evil, conniving trick." Janie said simply before turning around and hurrying away leaving a stunned and heartbroken Charlie Bingley behind.

--

By Friday of that week everyone at Longbourne High School knew that Will and Lizzy had broken up and for many it was shocking to hear that.

"It was just so sudden," Marissa Duncan said hanging off the arm of her new boy toy Ryan Lewis. "Hell, I didn't even like Lizzy Bennet and I'm still confused. They were so perfect for each other."

For others it was a very joyous occasion to hear that Will and Lizzy had broken up.

And by 'others' I mean Caroline Bingley who upon hearing the news tried to cozy up to Will again while attempting to bad mouth Lizzy. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on if you were a Caroline or Will supporter) Will managed to get her away for good by saying that if she annoyed him one more time he would have someone 'pull a Katlin' on her. Needless to say Caroline got the point and hadn't approached him since.

But the break up of Charlie Bingley and Janie Bennet shocked everyone to the core. No one dared to believe that the 'super couple', the pair that won 'Cutest Couple' for the mock elections had broken up. 

Rumors were flying about why they did, ranging from Charlie cheating on Janie (or vice versa) to a pregnancy scare.

But no one knew the real truth, save Lizzy and Charlie.

And Lizzy hated that she caused the demise of her sister's relationship. Janie and Charlie had a long history—from first meeting in elementary school to playful flirting in middle school to a relationship the summer after ninth grade. And for it to all be torn apart thanks to her made Lizzy feel like shit on the inside.

Sure, she despised Charlie for what he did to her but it didn't stop her from feeling guilty. Janie just wasn't the same anymore after she publicly broke up with her boyfriend. Lizzy knew that her sister was trying to put on a brave front but the sixteen year old wasn't stupid—she could see that Janie was hurting inside and it killed her.

"Stop doing this to yourself Jay." Lizzy plopped down on the couch next to Janie who was watching a taped episode of Gossip Girl. "I understand that Charlie hurt both of us by fucking with me but that doesn't mean that you have to suffer too."

"He and Will purposely played with your heart," Janie said as she winced at a part where Blair and Chuck kiss in the backseat of Chuck's limo. "Urgh. If it's a couple I cannot stand its Queen B and C."

"Huh?" Lizzy looked at the scene, wrinkled her nose and turned back. Truthfully, she had never been much of a GG fan but Janie was hooked on it. "Stop avoiding the subject Jay. I know you're hurting and I know you miss Charlie."

"No I don't."

Lizzy snorted in disbelief. "Janie, we have a twenty-one month difference between each other. We shared the same room for a few years. Don't sit there and try to lie to me, it's not working."

"I don't miss him." Janie said turning towards Lizzy as Gossip Girl's voice came back on the air after the camera panned a shot of the Upper East Side of New York City. "He messed with you Liz and he should have realized a long time ago that I don't care for people who purposely hurt my family. You're more important."

"And I'm glad you feel that way." Lizzy sighed as she twirled a strand of hair around her index finger. "But you have to understand that it's not fully Charlie's fault. It's Will's too." Even as she said his name she felt her heart constrict painfully and she scowled, hating how she would react just by saying it. Unfortunately for Liz, Janie caught her sister's expression and shook her head.

"And I understand that it's not fully Charlie's fault but it's not like he did anything to stop it. It's like in Law and Order. There are two guys who abduct a woman but only one kills her. Both are accountable for her murder."

"Janie, just think please." Lizzy said scooting closer to her sister and grabbing the clicker. "You've spent your whole life knowing this guy and spent the better part of high school dating him. I'm not trying to say that one is guiltier than the other but I will eventually get over him (she couldn't bear to say his name) 

because I had only been going out with him for a few months. You and Charlie have years behind you. Years of countless fond memories, birthdays, anniversaries, Christmases, you can't just say that you're willing to forget him cold turkey because there is no way in hell that you can. Jane," Lizzy grabbed her sister's hand and rubbed it soothingly. "You're doing more harm than good by breaking up with him."

"No I'm not—"

"How would you like it if I said that by you breaking up with Charlie you've caused me a lot of pain?"

Janie's eyes widened momentarily before she opened and closed her mouth, not knowing what to say as Lizzy played with her sister's hands patiently waiting for a response.

Finally, Janie spoke.

"I'd say you were pulling my leg."

"And I say that I'm not. Do you know how guilty you've made me feel ever since you've dumped Bingley? I feel as if I'm the cause for it."

"But you're not—"

"Doesn't stop me from feeling this way." Lizzy said simply as she let go of Janie's hand and started to flip through the channels. "Jay I know how you truly feel and you want to get back with Charlie."

"You don't know how I truly feel Lizzy." Janie said heatedly, squirming in her seat as she thought about her ex-boyfriend—his dark blonde hair, his wide, contagious smile, those blue eyes of his that looked like the Pacific Ocean…

"I'm right." Lizzy said smugly as she stopped at Channel 5 (the CW) to watch a repeat of One Tree Hill. "Score."

Janie seemed to snap out of it as she turned towards Lizzy and shot back, "Do you still miss Will?"

Lizzy's superior look fell from her face and she bit her lip, wanting not to cry as a flash of Will's smiling face flew through her mind. "Yeah, I do."

Instantly Janie realized her error and she looked horrified with herself. "Oh shoot, Liz. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say—"

"S'alright." Lizzy said thickly bending her head forward so that a curtain of her light brown hair covered her eyes letting her wipe them inconspicuously. "Guess I deserved that part a bit, eh?"

"No, you didn't. I was just being a bitch because truthfully," Janie buried her face in her hands and groaned. "I do miss Charlie."

"Told you." Lizzy said, not liking this cutesy Full House style confession that they were having. All Lizzy needed to hear was the sob music and for Uncle Jesse or Danny Tanner to run through with comforting words and she'd be set.

Janie smiled hesitantly at her sister before looking at the TV set, a dubious look in her blue eyes. "Yo Lizzy, I thought you hated One Tree Hill."

"I do." Lizzy looked at the screen and realized her error. "Oh. Well, I can fix that." Flipping the channels she got to a repeat of Maury where a larger-set woman was claiming that her ex-boyfriend was the father of her four month old baby son. "Ah, the epitome of American white trash." Lizzy said happily watching as the audience went wild as Sean (the woman's ex-boyfriend) arrived from backstage, giving the middle finger to the spectators, who were either booing or screaming profanities.

"Lizzy? Telephone!" Francesca Bennet shouted from the kitchen.

Startled, Lizzy stood up and handed the clicker to Janie. "Who is it Mom?"

"Fitzie."

Raising her eyebrows, Lizzy grabbed another phone and pressed the 'talk button'. "Hello?"

"Hey Liz?"

"Hey Fitz—hold on a sec. Mom," she covered the mouth piece with her hand and glared at her mother. "Some privacy please?"

Click.

--

Mr. Bing: Hey Janie.

Mr. Bing: Janie. I know you're there.

Mr. Bing: Alright. So you're NOT there. Can you at least talk to me? I hate the cold shoulder that you're giving me.

JANIE MARIE HAS SIGNED OUT.

Mr. Bing: Fuck

--

Four days passed and the Class of 2008's last day of high school was approaching. Lockers had been cleaned out as idiots paraded around yelling that they didn't have any more homework to do. But now it was time for seniors to buckle down and prepare for their senior exams which started on Wednesday, May twenty-eighth.

But Will found that he couldn't concentrate studying for his physics exam as he realized that every time his mind would wander he would start to absent mindedly doodle on his paper and when he finally came to he saw that Lizzy's name was scrawled all over his paper.

Anyone, even Forrest Gump could realize that Will still had it good for Lizzy and that he desperately wanted her back. But he had to be rational and Will knew that after the huge ranting and screaming fit from her he wasn't going to woo her over anytime soon.

And he was running out of time too. School was nearly over and Will would be away for the majority of the summer. After summer came college on the East Coast and there was no way in hell that Will would have time to win back Lizzy when he would be too busy worrying about exams and lectures.

Will threw down his pencil, buried his face in his hands and groaned.

There was no way he could study now.

--

Faster than anyone could imagine it senior exams arrived and soon passed. On May thirtieth, three hundred and thirty seniors left high school forever finally finished with their last exam.

Lizzy, who had been sitting in her Euro classroom, had seen a huge crowd of seniors run out of the school, whistling and cheering as a storm of papers were thrown in the air as they all eagerly went to the senior parking lot.

Instead of paying attention to Mr. Ward's lecture, Lizzy continued to watch the spectacle outside hoping that she could find Will out there somewhere.

She smiled sadly to herself as she saw car after car pull away from the parking lot and wondered if her sister was doing the same thing.

Janie was finally speaking to Charlie again after finally realizing that although justified, she shouldn't have broken up with Charlie. They weren't back together again per say but it was still nice to see her sister happy again.

Lizzy wasn't sure if she would ever fully forgive Charlie for what he did to her but she had to be somewhat nice towards him because it made her sister happy, but that didn't mean she couldn't sneak in a few snarky and sarcastic comments either.

"Is there a UFO outside in the student parking lot Miss Bennet?" Mr. Ward's low voice cut through Lizzy's thoughts and she turned back in her seat to see the entire class stare at her while her annoyed teacher glanced at the outside world.

"No Mr. Ward."

"Then pay attention."

"But Mr. Ward, it's not like we have to pay attention," Lizzy replied. "We've already taken our AP exam and we're not taking our final so there's no point in even listening."

A few students snickered and Lizzy smiled in a self-satisfied way.

She was back.

--

We're not done yet so don't you dare think that this is the end!

But I will tell you that this story is so close to being done. Maybe two more chapters or so have no fear my pets; everything will be tied up nicely at the end with a big red bow.

And yes, I know the chapter is short but bear with me. This chapter made me want to bang my head against the wall with all the cutesy little sentimentalities.

Oh and a P.S., if anyone can guess who sang the chapter title, I'll give you a cookie. (:

Review lovelies.

--GC